At the FDA
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The top vaccine official at the Food and Drug Administration who was forced out of the agency announced his resignation Friday, and sharply criticized Robert F. Kennedy Jr., his boss at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Dr. Peter Marks has long steered the FDA's regulation of vaccines. He became especially well known during the first Trump administration for his work with Operation Warp Speed, which was credited with the fast development of COVID-19 vaccines.
Marks wrote in his resignation letter "it has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies."
https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2025/03/28/nx-s1-5344010/fda-peter-marks-rfk-jr
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I’ve met with him several times. He doesn’t just oversee vaccines but all ‘biologics’ which include blood products, vaccines, and gene and rna therapies. He was really bullish on the next generation of gene therapy treatments.
Even if vaccines weren’t part of his remit, this would be bad news for America.
The main fear for society though is how Kennedy is likely to replace him with some antivaxx crank. I would imagine anti-vaxx and anti-genetic modification attitudes correlate.
It’s going to be a cruel four years.
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Wonder if there's still a savings associated with making these changes, or if the consultant fees will be more than employee salaries and benefits.
The Food and Drug Administration is finalizing plans to replace some of the employees it laid off with contractors, three FDA officials tell CBS News, after steep cuts to the agency's workforce disrupted drug and food safety inspections.
"Recent adjustments in staff numbers have created a heightened need for the FDA to be nimble, efficient and respond creatively, in order to continue and maintain FDA's regulatory inspection presence and the gold standard of excellence," agency officials wrote, in emails and draft contracting documents obtained by CBS News.
The contractors would effectively replace most of the work done by more than 50 laid-off federal employees who handled travel logistics and conducted oversight on spending for the agency's inspectors, said two FDA officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The plan was approved by FDA Commissioner Dr. Marty Makary, one email said.
The move appears to contradict what laid-off workers supporting FDA's Office of Inspections and Investigations had been told in their layoff notices: that they were being let go because their work was "unnecessary or virtually identical to duties being performed elsewhere in the agency."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fda-replace-laid-off-employees-contractors/
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I’ve met with him several times. He doesn’t just oversee vaccines but all ‘biologics’ which include blood products, vaccines, and gene and rna therapies. He was really bullish on the next generation of gene therapy treatments.
Even if vaccines weren’t part of his remit, this would be bad news for America.
The main fear for society though is how Kennedy is likely to replace him with some antivaxx crank. I would imagine anti-vaxx and anti-genetic modification attitudes correlate.
It’s going to be a cruel four years.
